The game has opened up now and Inter storm forward on the counter. Sneijder serves Eto'o who plays to Milito, but Britos intercepts with a diving header and Viviano gathers.

43'

The Nerazzurri come back at Bologna and Sneijder has a low effort saved by Viviano.

41'

Bologna hit us on the break. Mudingayi sweeps wide to Di Vaio and the Rossoblu captain crosses. The ball falls to Gimenez who chests down and blazes over.

40'

Sneijder lashes in a corner from the left flag. Lucio connects at the back post but Ekdal clears.

37'

Bologna attack down their right. It comes to nothing as Chivu defuses a Garics-Di Vaio one-two.

37'

Esposito for a foul on Sneijder.

34'

McDonald Mariga hits a low diagonal shot wide of the far post.

30'

Cambiasso latches on to Mudingayi's loose clearance from Sneijder's right-wing corner and volleys over the bar from 20 yards.

28'

Sneijder for a foul from behind on Casarini.

26'

Lucio beats Gimenez to a Mudingayi pass into the box and coolly sees the ball over for an Inter goal kick.

23'

Sneijder wins a duel with Rubin on the Inter left and whips in a cross. Portanova intercepts Milito in the six-yard box.

22'

Corner to Inter as Mariga's effort from distance takes a strong deflection.

20'

Garics has a dig from a tight angle on the right. Its spins off Chivu and goes behind. Portanova steals in at the near post from the resulting corner, taken by Casarini, and heads on target. Julio Cesar blocks.

15'

Garics volleys wide as Bologna go close from a corner.

14'

Lucio intercepts Casarini's ball for Di Vaio and it falls to Gimenez, who lobs over from the edge of the area with Julio Cesar well off his line. Bad miss.

13'

Pandev turns Rubin on his way into the box from the right flank and looks for the corner, but the last touch is his and it's a Bologna goal kick.

7'

Milito collects Eto'o's ball down the Inter left but sees his shot blocked by the Rossoblu defence.

5'

Mariga makes a good sliding tackle on Gimenez as Bologna look for openings down their left.

1'

Our defence of the Serie A title starts here at the Stadio Dall'Ara in Bologna. Rafa Benitez reverts to the 4-2-3-1 formation that beat Roma in the Italian Super Cup and there are a few changes from Monte Carlo. McDonald Mariga gets the nod ahead of Dejan Stankovic alongside Esteban Cambiasso in midfield, while Goran Pandev returns to the starting lineup after warming the bench against Atletico last Friday. Javier Zanetti slots in at right-back in place of the injured Maicon.

Nice move by Inter. Eto'o serves Sneijder with a neat back-heeled pass and the Dutchman rifles wide of the far post.

10'

Eto'o twists and turns on the left, gaining the space to whip in a dangerous cross. Viviano beats Milito to the ball and blocks with his fists.

8'

Sneijder floats a pass into the Bologna box for Milito but Viviano is quick off his line.

7'

Viviano saves Pandev's diving header from Milito's right-wing cross.

6'

Zanetti blocks two crosses in quick succession from Gimenez on the left wing, earning us a free kick after a foul by the Uruguayan.

3'

Milito receives from Pandev on the edge of the D and fires a low shot at Viviano.

2'

Ekdal has a go from distance. His low shot on the turn is wide of Julio Cesar's right-hand post.

1'

Bologna kick off the second half.

Zanetti

6.37

6.37

Cambiasso

5.82

5.82

Julio Cesar

6.33

6.33

Samuel

6.26

6.26

Biabiany

4.79

4.79

Chivu

4.7

4.7

Milito

4.64

4.64

Lucio

5.7

5.7

Eto'o

7.04

7.04

Sneijder

6.77

6.77

Pandev

4.76

4.76

Mariga

6.69

6.69

Coutinho

5.41

5.41

Average rating

5.79

2

shots on target

7

4

shots off target

6

20

fouls committed

15

2

corners

7

5

offsides

2

33%

ball possession

67%

Magnani v Benitez

The two coaches meet in a competitive fixture for the first time.

Magnani v Inter

Bologna Primavera coach Paolo Magnani, who will lead out the Rossoblu
against the Nerazzurri after the sacking of Franco Colomba, faces
Inter for the first time in his
coaching career.

Benitez v Bologna

On his Serie A debut, Rafael Benitez faces Bologna for the first time.

Only one Bologna point in last 12 games against Inter

Bologna haven't beaten Inter at home or away since their 2-1 Serie A
victory on 10 February 2002. In their successive 12 games against
Inter, the Rossoblu have collected one draw (a 2-2 Serie A stalemate
in Milan on 10 November 2004) and 11 defeats.

Inter on target in 19 consecutive matches against Rossoblu

Inter have scored 42 goals in 19 consecutive home and away games
against Bologna, last failing to score against the Emilia-Romagna
outfit on 7 November 1999 when they lost 3-0 at the Stadio Dall'Ara in
Serie A.

Bologna unbeaten in last five season openers

The Rossoblu have escaped defeat in their last five season openers,
collecting 2 victories (1-0 at Pescara in 2006/07 Serie B and 2-1 at
AC Milan in 2008/09 Serie A) and 3 draws (0-0 at Triestina in 2005/06
Serie B, 0-0 at home to Rimini in 2007/08 Serie B and 1-1 at home to
Fiorentina in 2009/10 Serie A). Bologna's last opening-day loss dates
back to 2004/05: a 1-0 defeat at Cagliari in Serie A on 12 September
2004.

Inter-Bologna on opening day for 4th time after three one-nils

Inter play Bologna on the opening day of a season for the fourth time
since Serie A became a unified championship in 1929/30. All three
previous meetings have ended 1-0. Inter won at home in 1969/70,
Bologna won away in 1977/78, and Inter won away in 1978/79.

No Inter defeat on opening day of season since 2000

Inter's last defeat on the opening day of a Serie A season was on 1
October 2000 when a 2-1 loss to Reggina in Reggio Calabria resulted in
the sacking of Marcello Lippi. In their 9 season openers since the
2000/01 campaign, Inter have won 5 (4-1 at home to Perugia in 2001/02,
1-0 at home to Torino in 2002/03, 2-0 at home to Modena in 2003/04,
3-0 at home to Treviso in 2005/06, and 3-2 away to Fiorentina in
2003/04) and drawn 4 (2-2 away to Chievo in 2004/05, 1-1 at home to
Udinese in 2007/08, 1-1 away to Sampdoria in 2008/09, and 1-1 at home
to Bari in 2009/10).

Defending champions unbeaten on opening day since 1991/92

Not since the 1991/92 season has a defending Serie A champion lost on
the opening day. On that occasion it was Boskov's Sampdoria who lost
3-2 to Cagliari at the Stadio Sant'Elia after twice taking the lead
(Silas 11', Francescoli pens 14', 50', Mancini 15', Herrera 67'). In
the 17 successive seasons (excluding the 2005/06 campaign when the
2004/05 title was not assigned) the reigning champions have notched 10
victories and 7 draws.

BOLOGNA - Rossoblu goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano celebrated his call-up to the Italian national team with a polished performance to keep Inter at bay in Serie A's first ever Monday night fixture.

Julio Cesar was a spectator for most of the second half at the Stadio Dall'Ara as the Nerazzurri did everything but score - Viviano making a string of fine saves to ensure Inter opened their defence of the Scudetto with a point.

Bologna gave the Italian champions a run for their money in the first half but it was a different story after the restart as Rafa Benitez's men stepped up a gear.

Viviano saved Pandev's diving header and then parried away Sneijder's curling effort after Eto'o sent a couple of low shots wide. The Bologna shotstopper surpassed himself with an exceptional one-handed save from a Sneijder free kick and showed his quick reflexes again when he palmed Eto'o's close-range volley on to the bar.

He almost ruined his performance two minutes from time when another Sneijder shot proved too hot to handle, but smothered the ball to deny the onrushing Cambiasso.

Bologna survived a further scare deep in injury time when Sneijder's long-range free kick took a vicious deflection off Portanova.